


Transmigrating Into The Cocky Villain

by Not_A_Haeschen



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Isekai, Kairi gets to kick ass, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Riku is Oblivious, Sora is pining, Transmigration, transmigration system
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:20:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28034553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_A_Haeschen/pseuds/Not_A_Haeschen
Summary: Riku just loved to hate Kingdom Hearts. A basic game with a basic Hero-gets-the-girl story. Worst of all? One of the characters in the game was not only designed after him but also shared his name! And the character ended up being a best friend turned love rival turned villain turned killed-off-by-the-hero!Hence, Riku loved to hate that silly game. But when his world suddenly turns upside down as he finds himself in the game as his game counterpart, he has to find a way to avoid the fate that awaits him.His biggest obstacle? Of course it's the hero, Sora!Or: Kingdom Hearts if it were a shitty stand-alone game gets fixed and gay when Riku transmigrates and tries his best to survive.
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 53





	1. Prologue

Riku put his phone down and massaged his temples. Why was it that all the attention he's been getting was linked to that silly video game one way or another? 

Even at his young age of 17, he was a renowned model, highly popular and really hard-working, but nobody was talking about his newest achievements. 

People cared about Riku — that Riku from Kingdom Hearts, not the actual Riku whose name was currently buried in suggestions to cosplay a - in his opinion- poorly written game character. 

When he first allowed Namine to agree with the company's request to use her doodles as actual game design, he didn't think it would come back and bite him in the ass like it was currently doing. Who thought some simple doodles from ages ago would put him in a situation like this? 

Namine was talented and enthusiastic, he wouldn't force her to give up a big chance like being responsible for the design of a character, even if it was based on 5-minute drawings his friend used to make during breaks, back when they were still in school together. 

The character design was great, though Riku wouldn't say that out loud. The character did look like himself from when he was a young teen, it would be rather conceited to talk too well about the character's appearance. 

It really was a shame that the characters and game in general were so poorly written. 

The basic idea of Kingdom Hearts was just that. Basic. Just that run off the mill young hero saves the world story, with the obligatory romance and cringey quotes on friendship. What _did_ make this game special was the existence of dozens of Disney characters. It did not make the game better - weirder most the time - but it did make it special. 

Riku had played the game to support Namine, as well as to satisfy his own curiosity. He might have played the game more than once since the gameplay was actually a little fun. Yet, the more he played it, the less he liked it or understood it. 

The game was about Sora, a 14 year old kid who got mixed into some rather troublesome world-saving business. He had two friends, Riku and Kairi, though it would be a stretch to call them friends. Riku was just a bully and needed to fill the role of a love rival. Kairi was just an empty doll, needed to give Sora a reason to fight; both against the power of darkness to save the world, but also against Riku to…. That's where the game stopped making sense. 

The only reason Sora needed to fight Riku was so he could get rid of his love rival, which is not a new concept and would be acceptable, but Sora and Riku are introduced as _best friends_ in the beginning. In Riku's opinion, his game counterpart definitely deserved a beating — but he didn't deserve to die just because he might be an obstacle for the hero and his love interest. The friendship between Sora and Riku did not look healthy, yet that shouldn't be enough reason to kill off an ex-best friend without remorse. Sora just killed off Riku and went on to have a happy end with Kairi. 

It might be because the character was designed after himself, but Riku found that treatment very unfair. Sora should have at least been affected by the whole situation! 

Alas, the game had absolutely no emotional depth. All the characters were boring and soulless, the plot was nothing special and the random Disney characters really did not do enough to save that game. 

Still. Against all reason and critiques, Kingdom Hearts had become a huge success. 

Which ultimately drew attention to Riku. Both the game Riku and the actual Riku. And now Riku was left with all this unwanted attention he got because of the game he loved to hate. It certainly was cruel and the company should repay him for damages in some way. 

However, Riku could not bring himself to do something about it. 

Namine deserved to get her breakthrough, otherwise Riku wouldn't suffer through this. She was just an intern at the company when one of the directors caught sight of her drawings and rightfully acknowledged how great they looked. His lawyer could probably do something about the situation, but the most it would do would probably be to harm Namine, since she still had no actual position in the company or any kind of backing, really. Riku would never cause that and he certainly didn't want to let it happen for any reason at all. 

He can not fight the Kingdom Hearts fans, or the company. 

With a sigh Riku picked his phone up again and finally called Namine. He had come to terms with the fact that he couldn't beat them, so he might as well join them and do Namine some good. 

“Yes? Hello?” came Namine's voice, the sound of pencil scratching paper resounding around her. 

"I'll do it, " Riku murmured. 

“Riku? What did you say?” She had stopped drawing to hear him better, he noticed. 

Riku took a deep breath, "I'll do it. The stupid cosplay." 

It was silent for a moment before a pencil clang against the tabletop and Namine excitedly picked up the phone. "Really!? You're giving in?!" 

"Might as well. I know I'll look good, you get to be the nerd you are and people will acknowledge my work. You still have to pay me though, even with the friend-discount this will cost you." He tried to seem bothered by the idea, but Namine's excitement was a bit contagious. 

"I shall try and compensate you for the treasure you'll gift this world, so… Meet me at the café and I'll pay for whatever you order?" She had already begun to gather her art supplies, shuffling towards the door. 

"Don't regret it, be there in 20." Riku hung up and fell back into the chair, staring at the ceiling for a while before he managed to drag himself to the café. 

Out of all games, he would really cosplay a character from Kingdom Hearts? Especially one of the really really bad ones? 

Lately Lady Luck sure wasn't on Riku's side. 

"Power of friendship" — he'd rather call it the "pressure of friendship". He was doing this for Namine, because he was a good friend like that. Definitely not because he liked the game in any way, shape, or form.


	2. Chapter 2

Namine took a bite of her cake before putting the fork down to look at her friend. "You know, I'm not forcing you to do anything. I'm rather sorry to even put you in this position, so…. We can just forget the cosplay idea, would you please stop glaring at that poor coffee cup?" 

"No, I'm sorry," Riku sighed, "I know the cosplay will look good because you're good at designing and I'm good-looking. I just don't like the character. He's a brat, like some elementary school bully with a power-complex." 

"Yeaaaah, he's a bit… well… He’s supposed to be a teen; puberty is probably messing him up. We've all been there, right?" She gave Riku a hopeful glance, but her shoulders drooped as he only raised a brow at her. "Listen, the story for the characters and their behavior was written by some dudes who are at least in their 40s  — they tried." 

"Oh, I can tell. I'm glad a project you worked on is so popular, but I frankly don't get all the hype. All of the characters are flat, the relationship is super cliché and they couldn't resolve the game any other way aside from killing off the love rival. " He gave Namine an irritated look. "I know you don't get to intervene with decisions like that, but come on. It sucks." 

Namine narrowed her eyes and accusingly pointed her fork at him. "Did you even play the game? Huh? Or did you just watch a Let's Play? I know it's objectively not the best game story-wise, but you shouldn't judge so harshly if you haven't even played it!" Namine started to get a little defensive at this point, but so did Riku. 

"I played it. All of it. The best character was that little heartless at the beginning  — you know, the one that died." 

Namine pulled out her drawing supplies. "Now you're just being mean. You have to dig a little deeper and try to properly connect with the characters! It's about friendship, how that changes and how love develops." 

"Between Donald and Goofy?" 

Namine stopped her pencil mid-air to glare at Riku. 

"Sorry, sorry, but let's be honest here: The romance in there sucks. Sora and Riku are introduced as friends but somehow they are fighting over Kairi? And Kairi just stands at the sideline giggling as she watches their relationships go to shit because of a weird love triangle situation. She doesn't even have any lines or appearances that paint her as anything but the prize for the bigger idiot out of the two."

Namine ignored him in favor of drawing. She definitely needed to de-stress right now or Riku would see what other things her hands were capable of. 

Riku watched her for a while before some of the tension left his body. "Ah… I went a bit too far there, didn't I? Shouldn't have talked about your project like that. Sorry, Nami." 

She held up a hand, signaling him to stay quiet until she finished with her drawing. "You know what, we'll do it like this. Let's start with Kairi." 

Namine pushed her drawing pad so that Riku could see a sketch of the character. "What's your issue with her, hm? She's a cute and innocent girl. Nice design, mild character, you know — " 

"Basic. She's basic. Not really innocent, just very naive. And the design…. She does look cute but I don't think she's pretty enough to justify even half the issues she's causing." Riku pointed at Kairi's face. "Damsel in distress if I've ever seen one, completely useless. And to have  _ that  _ in a world with fancy weapons and magic, it's a waste." 

"I… Guess you're right with some of that? But she's supposed to be a princess, that's kind of how the plot for a princess goes. The Hero of Light saves the princess, they love each other, they live happily ever after  — like that, you know?" Namine sighed dreamily, "A fairytale, but with gameplay." 

"See? Even the plot is basic and uninteresting. Give me a warrior princess if you decide to throw me a silly keyblade; maybe then I would take it seriously." He took a pencil and made some quick notes next to the sketch until it was switched with a drawing of the character Riku. 

Namine was quite proud. "I don't expect you to complain about his look, he's perfect."

"Obviously. Like that, he's great. But as soon as he opens his mouth… No wonder somebody smashed his head in with a keyblade. His courting of Kairi was so half-assed, it was obvious he wouldn't get her. And just with those looks he should have been a far bigger threat to the romance between Sora and Kairi, but somehow the writers managed to make him so unlikable that no one would dare suggest he should have been with her. You can't put a disaster like him next to a badass like Maleficent and expect he's going to at least be a good villain after he's such a shitty love rival. The darkness power helped, but in the end they were wasted on him. If you put a good-looking guy like that in a game and give him fancy dark powers, he shouldn't be defeated by a pipsqueak in clown shoes within 5 minutes." Riku went on to scratch notes onto the paper, only stopping as Namine dropped her head on the table. 

"I got a bit heated again, didn't I?" He rubbed the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed about his rant. 

Namine gave him a glance, mirth hidden in those usually calm eyes. "You enjoyed the game, didn't you?" 

Riku pressed too hard and broke the tip of the pencil. "What? Of course not, it's stupid." 

"Are you sure about that? You're quite passionate about Kingdom Hearts, far beyond the problems it's causing you." She smirked. "You're a nerd. A fanboy even. But don't want to accept it." 

"I am not a nerd and I don't care about that game." He crossed his arms, slightly glaring at Namine who had started to giggle. 

"Sure, that's why you managed to pick up on all the points worthy of critique  _ and  _ explain why they should be critiqued. Since you obviously didn't think about any of that  — you don't care about the game after all." Namine triumphantly put a sketch of Sora in front of Riku. " Now, tell me about the issue with Sora, oh mighty Kingdom Hearts buff."

"I don't know. Don't know him." He stubbornly sipped on his beverage, set on not letting Namine corner him further.

Namine hummed a bit. "That's a shame. Sora is a great character, he's super positive and loveable. Like a puppy, but he's also a hero and good at fighting. Great protagonist — " 

"I know you're doing this on purpose, but please… Don't — If Kairi was naive, Sora is down right oblivious to anything around him. He's like a puppy because they probably have the same IQ. Of course it's difficult not to be happy like that, but it's just not relatable. Sure, I feel sorry for the guy, but he manages to be all chipper as soon as he meets some Disney characters even though he just lost his home and everyone in there. I honestly can't tell you shit about Sora because he basically reacts to everything the same way. Save everyone with his friends because he's a hero and that's what he's supposed to do, no questions asked. The only thing that seems to trouble him is getting his little girly and if that's the only thing he's worried about…" Riku looked at Namine. "The whole plot is driven by love, but Kairi and Sora didn't interact that much with each other. You can't sell me love with so little romance, it's just not enough to warrant all those travels and killing off an ex-friend."

"Aw, the game wasn't romantic enough for you?" Namine teased him a little; she definitely had the right to after Riku talked about her project like that. 

Riku stared at her. "Are you kidding me? You put a relationship like that with Sora and Kairi in a world that has Tarzan and Jane, or Hercules and Megara - it's a joke and in no way comparable. Their love is like  _ Snow White _ or  _ Sleeping Beauty: _ no interaction whatsoever for the most part. The most romantic exchange they had was  _ 'Kairi is inside me?' _ and that does in fact worry me a bit."

At this point, Namine didn't know if she should laugh or get angry. Instead, she settled on a simple question: "You are so good at complaining about the game, but could you do it better? "

"Psh, you make it sound like that's difficult. I could easily fix Kingdom Hearts. And you know what? I will do that. I'll cosplay Riku and by being him, I'll fix his reputation and make his character look better." Riku was confident and pushed the bill towards Namine, failing to notice she had lowered her head. "Just leave it to me, your character will be the most popular of them all." He threw her a cocky grin, jutted out his hip and patted the bill a few times. “All that for a measly coffee, I’m too good to you.”

Namine put her hand on top of Riku's, thus stopping his patting motion and raised her head to show him a sad smile. "I believe in you; you'll definitely be fine. It's… Always been fun with you, I cherish all the memories we made. Thanks for being my friend, Riku." 

"What's gotten into you suddenly?" He grasped Namine's hand and worry filled his eyes as he seeked those of his friend. "That almost sounded like a goodbye?" 

"I… Riku… I'll miss you,” Her voice broke off as she almost choked on the heavy clump that was forming in her throat, “but I'll definitely be with you, okay? I'll find a way to help you out, promise." Namine’s eyes were firm with determination, yet the thick layer of unspilled tears made her seem rather desperate and heartbroken instead. She firmly grasped onto Riku’s hand, closed her eyes and steadied her breathing as best as she could and started to count down in her head.

_ 5 _

Riku finally reacted and hurriedly touched her cheek.

_ 4 _

His hands couldn’t help but tremble with worry as he tried to organize his thoughts, to find words to say.

_ 3 _

His head was filled to the brim with questions and words, yet the sheer amount of it made it feel more like an empty space; it almost made him dizzy.

_ 2 _

His brows furrowed, a throbbing pain hammering inside his head as his vision became hazy. Riku’s chest felt heavy, as if all air had been squeezed out, so his voice came out rather breathless when he tried to speak. "What are you talking about? Neither of us will leave — " 

_ 1 _

He stopped. 

Suddenly, there was no more ground beneath him.

Namine disappeared right before his eyes and he was plunged into darkness.

He felt like he was falling, yet there was no wind around him, nor any noise, nor any other thing, really.

Was he screaming? What was happening? How long had it been? Where was he? Where was he going?

He wanted it to stop!

Everything had disappeared into darkness; Riku didn't even know where he began or where he ended, all his senses ringing in alarm with overstimulation from nothingness.

Suddenly, it stopped. 

His body lay enveloped in softness and warmth and when he tried to open his eyes, he realized the darkness had been chased away by a blinding light; far too bright to see anything  — if there even  _ was  _ anything in the first place.

Riku gave up on opening his eyes, relaxed his body until only one thought remained and found peace in that thought.

_ Ah...I this must be what death feels like. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're about to meet some new characters and a new world~  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter and are ready to get into the transmigration business.  
> I'll be your tour guide, make sure not to stray off cause idk where you might end up.
> 
> Shout out to my beta KaiserinAstraia, check them out for A+ soriku content!


	3. Chapter 3

The sun shone onto him, causing his skin to heat up right to the point where comfort and burning blended together. Salty and fresh air entered through his nose into his lungs, the sensation of it a cleansing for his city-air-stained lungs. Not a car could be heard; only the cawing of birds and waves gently lapping against the shore was audible as a back noise. 

_ Ah… It's been a while since I went to the beach. _

The sand embraced him, easing all the tension from his body as if it was gently soaking up all the stress that had accumulated inside of him. For the first time in a long time, he felt at ease -- his mind whispered sweet ideas of naps and dreams to him until he couldn't help but agree. He  _ could  _ nap for a bit… he just needed to set an alarm so he wouldn't miss his next appointment. 

Riku halted when he was about to search for his phone. 

The beach? Wasn't he with Namine, at their favorite café? 

Riku sat up so fast he almost gave himself whiplash, and quickly looked around. 

White sand, blue ocean, tropical plants. 

No café. 

No Namine. 

Absolutely no idea where this was. 

Just as Riku was about to panic, he heard voices in the distance; foreign, yet still giving him a sense of familiarity. He couldn't quite put his finger on where he had heard these people before, yet the fact that there were other people was reassuring enough for now. 

Riku took a deep breath and tried to get his thoughts in order. Nonetheless, he had no clue where he was or how he had gotten here in the first place.

Slowly, he started to remember. He was with Namine, casually talking when he suddenly just  _ fell _ and after that darkness turned into light. Luckily his fall didn't end with a painful crash and instead he just woke up on the sand - he didn't dare question  _ how _ that worked, but he'd still like to know  _ why  _ it happened in the first place. 

However, before he could ponder any further, a game menu appeared in front of him. 

He knew that menu - or rather the style of it. 

"Kingdom Hearts…?" He reached out and carefully touched the screen, watching as it changed. 

_ 'Welcome to the universe of Kingdom Hearts, Riku.  _

_ Open the Main Menu at will to view: _

  * __Quests__


  * _Achievements_


  * _Character sheets_


  * _Inventory_



"What the…" Riku rubbed his eyes. Did he hit his head?  _ Is this a dream? _ None of this made any sense! 

_ Would you like to read the tutorial?'  _

Riku stared at the options beneath the message. This had to be one of the weirdest dreams he ever had - it certainly couldn't be anything but a dream! With his luck, someone probably dropped a flower pot from a window where he stood at the perfect position to get himself hit and knocked out. Right now he must be asleep and on painkillers or something, resulting in this weird dream that was probably some kind of subconscious punishment he gave himself for talking shit about the game in front of Namine. 

May as well roll with it and follow the rules of his dream; would be a waste to not make good use of this med-induced experience. 

Obediently, Riku read the explanations on the screen, occasionally tapping on the 'ok' button. Everything was pretty similar to the actual game, which wasn't a surprise. The gameplay was fun, after all - Riku had no reason to dream up a different game system. 

Just as he got to the 'magic' part, which had yet to be unlocked, he heard his name being called and somebody running in his direction. 

"Riku! We've been looking for you; you suddenly disappeared!" A radiant grin spread across Sora's face as he came to a halt at Riku's side. The smile started to fade as Riku just kept staring at him. "Is there something on my face? If so, it's definitely chocolate!" 

Sora was rubbing around his face and flinched when another hand touched his cheek. 

"Fascinating…" Riku looked at Sora in awe, testing how his skin felt. "You're real? It feels real, at least…" 

"Of course I am!" Sora pushed his hand away, drew his brows together in irritation and couldn't suppress the slight embarrassment that dusted his cheeks pink. "You're being weird again, you know?" 

Riku looked at his hand in thought. This dream actually allowed his senses to function? It was the first time he experienced something like this; he would definitely look it up once he was awake. 

"Riku?" 

He looked at Sora's confused expression and got lost in thought for a while. Though Sora was utterly unrelateable for him, he still admired how the boy managed to keep a smile on even in the worst of situations. Riku let out a huff, gave Sora a somewhat envious glance, pinched his cheek and asked, "How are you always so cheerful…!" 

Sora grimaced and pushed Riku's hand once again. "Why wouldn't I be! I completely obliterated Tidus in our last match!" 

"Oh right… The side-characters are here too," he mumbled and let his hand drop to his side. 

Sora looked at him quite taken aback. "What did you just say?" 

_ 'Warning: Keep the order of the universe. Do not reveal your origin.' _

Riku read the message and dismissed Sora with a short ”never mind” before he started walking. 

Sora followed at his side, stealing glances from time to time, a little suspicious of his friend's behavior. 

"What?" Riku finally asked. 

"You seem… different. Did something happen? Not feeling well? Are you mad at me?" The questions kept tumbling from Sora's lips, the boy growing more nervous with each of them. 

"You really are a people-pleaser, aren't you?" The corners of Riku's mouth twitched downwards for a second before waving the other boy off. "Don't worry about me, worry about yourself." 

Sora stopped, not knowing how to react to what Riku said. "You think I'm a people-pleaser? I… I don't try to be, I think…" He awkwardly buried his heels in the sand, wanting to walk on but somehow lacking the confidence to. 

After a while Riku also stopped and looked back at Sora. Seeing that poor awkward kid, he couldn't help but soften his expression in sympathy. "I didn't say you do it on purpose. It just feels like it - not that that's bad either. It's just difficult to tell what you're thinking since you're down for anything and everything. Which again, that's not a bad thing, but there's nothing wrong with saying no, you know?" 

Sora hadn't really questioned anything that happened during Kingdom Hearts; he just did what he was asked to without asking why. All the characters took advantage of Sora's good-hearted personality and lack of experience; Riku had always harshly judged that. 

Sora's shoulders and head drooped after hearing Riku's words and once Riku realized that, he tried to save himself as best as he could. "Not trying to be mean, I just don't want you to be such a pushover, you know?" 

"I… I…" Sora opened and closed his mouth a few times like a fish out of water until he muttered, "I don't know what to answer to that. I haven't really thought about it before..." 

Riku observed him a bit longer until taking a few steps back towards him to pat his shoulder a few times. "Don't take it to heart -- forget I even said anything." 

Sora slowly blinked a few times after Riku pulled back his hand and just looked at him with big blue eyes that somehow just didn't seem  _ right  _ on Sora. They seemed  _ lost  _ and somewhat  _ sad _ ; Riku felt that it was very wrong for Sora out of all characters to look like this, he had to fix this right away. 

"Come on, let's go back to the others. Show me again how you beat up Tidus, that should put you in a good mood," Riku coaxed and gave Sora a small smile. He certainly wouldn't be the person who causes that literal ray of sunshine to frown - even the most vile villains had a hard time doing that. He gently slapped Sora's shoulder to get him to move and started walking himself. 

Sora followed him, his usual grin appearing after a moment as he went on to animatedly recount his last battle against Tidus. As they walked side by side, Riku occasionally answered Sora with a hum and sneaked glances at him from time to time. It was weird… On screen, Sora's grin had seemed much more sincere and energetic than it did in this dream. It certainly looked like the trademark Sora grin, but the energy was just off. Sora himself seemed to either notice it too, or he noticed that  _ Riku  _ had noticed, as he soon became even louder and amped up his energy more. 

Riku inwardly sighed.  _ Such a people-pleaser, really…  _

****

Though Sora had boasted about defeating Tidus, their next battle ended in utter failure for Sora. How embarrassing, he really wanted to show Riku how he had improved!

Sora let himself drop into the sand and groaned, "That sucked. I thought I had him!" 

"Pfft, try again! I let you win the last one to crush you even more this time!" Tidus triumphantly looked down at Sora. "You had plenty of open spots; it was a waste to win that quickly." 

Sora took a handful of sand and threw it in Tidus' direction. After losing, his mood really was ruined. He peeked at Riku who still looked around as if it had been ages since he was on the play island, even though they came here basically every day. 

Something was up with Riku. Riku had been weird recently, pushing him around and being kinda mean, but today it was just  _ too weird _ . 

Kairi sat next to Sora and tilted her head. "Sore loser, are we? Last match,you looked super cool, don't worry about this one." 

"Don't you think Riku is acting odd today?" Sora asked instead. 

Her brows pulled together a little before looking at the other boy for a while. "Maybe he just has something to think about? You know how he is, he gets those dumb ideas and shuts himself off. Isn't it just him being his normal unusual self?" 

"But…." Sora thought about it for a moment before he whispered, "Usually, when he gets like that, he's mean and all high and mighty, but…. Today it's different."

Kairi giggled and got up. "I know exactly what you guys need!" She turned towards Riku, cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, "Hey! Riiiiku! Come on, Sora wants to race you! Winner gets some candy!" 

Pulled out of his daze, Riku looked at her and frowned. It's not like he wanted to be mean, but he didn't feel the need to do whatever these kids wanted. The game Riku might be 15, but he was about to graduate high school and was in the middle of making a career for himself. He didn’t need to prove himself to a bunch of 14-year-olds, much less fictional characters.

This dream had been going on for a while now and he had come to realize: He did not have any control over it _at all_. It was not a lucid dream, just a _very_ vivid one. In fact, it was so vivid that it became unsettling and he wanted nothing more than to finally _wake_ _up_. 

Kairi jogged over, pushed his shoulder and teased, "Scared of losing? Or scared Sora will mope if he loses another match? I have some  _ good _ lemon candy, it's worth it to win."

"Nah, not up to it." He got up and passed her without another word, instead going towards the ocean. Riku didn't want to be around these…these  _ characters _ \- he was a real person and did not belong here! His gut twisted into knots as his head came up with explanations of what might be going on. A very deep sleep? Drugs? Coma? Alien-abduction? A terrible and incredibly realistic prank to test how far you had to push it until one loses their sanity? 

He crouched down and quickly washed his face with some ocean water. It was nice and cool, but the salt made his eyes sting; his heart stopped for a second before it started to rapidly beat. Riku licked his lips, tasted the salt and looked at his reflection on the water surface. He… he looked younger.

_ This is wrong. All of this is wrong! It doesn't make any sense!  _

"Oh-kay?" Kairi finally said after observing his actions. Her brows drew together and she looked towards Sora who just flailed his arms and pointed at Riku while giving Kairi a confused  _ "told you so" _ look. 

Riku stared at the screen in front of him. He could use it with his eyes, which was very convenient but also didn't really matter since he would wake up soon. Right? Riku felt more and more nauseous as the panic kept rising within him. 

He took a deep breath and went through the game screen again, looking for an exit button or anything that would get him out. He was a perfectionist; this dream could only have a rational way to exit it and wake up. 

Riku went through every single tab yet found absolutely  _ nothing  _ that even remotely suggested he could leave - only the existence of this screen and the warning to " _ keep the world order _ " left as proof that he did not  _ belong  _ here. 

Riku pulled back his arm, his muscles trembling due to panic and frustration, and punched right through the screen and into the water. The screen had disappeared which left only the ripples forming around his hand in the water. 

His breath stuttered for a moment while he slowly turned around to look at the island. Luscious green leaves swaying in the warm wind, tropical flowers in all colors painting a contrast to perfect white sand - absolutely breathtaking; it seemed like a vision of paradise. 

The game characters, his "friends", crowded into his view with worried and confused expressions, saying things Riku didn't bother to listen to. It didn't matter anyway. They weren't real -  _ this _ wasn't real and he was going to wake up soon. 

Riku turned his back on them, now staring at the sea. He rubbed his eyes, yet nothing changed. All he could see was blue waves, gently moving against the shore and his feet. 

Ah…. This felt nice. Perhaps, if he jumped in…Maybe that would wake him up? Dunking your head in a bucket of water was supposed to snap one out of it, wasn't it? In that case, jumping into the ocean would surely get him back to where he belonged. 

One last look at the bright sun, a breeze caressed his cheeks and suddenly his legs started moving. With a few long and fast strides, he ran along the beach and onto the dock. Right before reaching the end, he took a deep breath and leapt into the water once there was no more jetty to run on. 

The water surrounded him, hugging him in a cool embrace. Riku closed his eyes and smiled; this did feel nice. Like that state between dreams and reality, right before you wake up. He'd tell Namine about it later - about what a crazy dream he had.

Riku's eyebrows harshly drew together. The comfort the ocean had offered turned into a vice grip around his chest and throat. As his lungs’ air rapidly depleted, his eyes sprang open, but the view only made his heart sink. There was no familiar scenery nor anything aside from blurry blue which weighed him down like lead.

Soon he felt the desperate urge to  _ breathe _ , yet he could only clamp a hand over his mouth and try, try,  _ try  _ to get out of there. 

Riku felt his strength and consciousness fade away as he was left with less and less oxygen. 

His vision had started to slowly fade into black when a hand suddenly reached out to him. With his last bit of strength, he desperately tried to grab it, yet he suddenly found himself in nothingness once again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are finally at the transmigration part! Are you excited?  
> Did I make your heart beat?   
> You are welcome, have a decent Valentine's day!
> 
> As always, thanks to my alpha KaiserinAstraia for supervising me. Check them out for good soriku content!

**Author's Note:**

> I have smelled a niche to fill so I am here to share my transmigration agenda.
> 
> If you are up for a wild ride, do continue to read. If not idk what you are doing here tbh. 
> 
> I am a mess trying my best, so I hope we can have fun with each other!
> 
> Do leave comments for feedback, but pls be nice cause I am sensitive ok?
> 
> Special thanks go out to KaiserinAstraia who is my guardian, patron saint and beta reader. If you want high quality soriku, do check them out. They serve good food, promise.


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